Update 9:50 AM
The Rockies have agreed to take Kevin Slowey, according to MLB.com. The Twins will receive a player to be named later. Kevin Slowey is going to hang out with ski bums in Denver; this is an oddly perfect fit.
Good morning everyone. Day two of the winter meetings is upon us, and Twinkie Town will be here throughout the day with updates. Hopefully today is the day we hear one way or the other regarding Michael Cuddyer... Getting right to it:
Matt Capps
By now, most of you have hard about the Matt Capps signing. I think the best we can say is that the Twins now have a closer for 2011. I'm pretty much with Jon from the evening update below, meh. Unless Capps can regain form and miss bats (career low 4.66 SO/9 last year), expect the ninth inning to remain a roller coaster in 2012. I'd rather the Twins have promoted Glen Perkins to closer and signed one or two cheaper bullpen arms, preferably ones with solid strikeout rates, without paying a premium for a "closer". Not to mention an additional supplemental draft pick. But Capps is now a Twin, hopefully he will bounce back and have a solid 2012 season.
Kevin Slowey
According to Buster Olney's Twitter feed, Slowey is a non-tender candidate and the Twins have let teams know he's available. This doesn't come as a surprise to most of us, as the organization has been actively shopping Slowey since last season. In my opinion, it would be a mistake to non-tender Slowey or trade him for a bag of balls. With Brian Duensing looking more and more like a reliever every day, and injury risks associated with Scott Baker and others in the rotation, I'd rather slot Slowey in the #5 spot in the rotation and at least give him a fighting chance at a solid 2012 season and improving his trade value over the summer. Thomas Harding of MLB.com thinks the Rockies' Seth Smith may be a match for the Twins. If the Twins are truly done with Slowey, this wouldn't be the worst trade in the world, and it would be a decent replacement for Jason Kubel.